DALLAS (SMU) – No. 11 SMU Volleyball took care of Stony Brook in four sets Saturday afternoon, ending the week 3-0, and 5-0 on the season. The match ended with set scores of 25-19, 25-14, 25-27, and 25-11.
 
Jadyn Livings led the Mustangs with 13 kills, hitting .571 with eight digs. Three more Mustangs reached double figures, starting with Favor Anyanwu, who finished the match with 12 kills, hitting .588. Malaya Jones closely followed Anyanwu by adding 11 kills and five digs. Natalia Newsome notched a career-high and reached double-figures for the first time in her young career with ten kills, hitting .500 against the Seawolves.
 
Averi Carlson dished out 56 assists and notched another double-double with 12 digs. Jentry Lamirand also added 12 digs, even with Carlson for a team high. Freshman Kennedi Rogers put up a season-high nine kills. 
 
MATCH NOTES:

• The Mustangs start the season 5-0 for just the third time in program history.
• SMU is now 3-0 all-time against Stony Brook.
• Carlson earned her third double-double of the season, and second straight, Saturday against the Seawolves.
• Freshman Maggie Croft notched her first career kill and block on back-to-back points in the second frame.
• SMU hit .380 for the match, its second highest hitting percentage of the season. Meanwhile, the Mustangs held Stony Brook to a .152 clip.
• SMU was dominant on the attack, outpacing the Seawolves 70-36 in kills. The Mustangs also out-dug Stony Brook 68-43.
• SMU out-blocked Stony Brook 7-2 and won the battle at the service line with an 8-5 edge in blocks. 

 
HOW IT HAPPENED:
SET ONE | SMU started the match up 3-0 and stretched that lead to 7-2 on an ace from Maggie Croft. Stony Brook answered with three of the next four points. A 4-0 SMU run ensued as Lamirand and Livings each had two kills in the sequence. The teams continued to trade blows as Stony Brook responded with four straight points to continue to keep pace with the Mustangs. After trading points down the stretch, SMU was able to pull away late, starting with a kill from Newsome and a Carlson ace, forcing Stony Brook into a timeout at 20-17. SMU then scored five of the next seven out of the break to win 25-19. Seven Mustangs recorded kills in the frame, led by Lamirand with four kills.  
 
SET TWO | SMU used a 7-1 run after a 9-9 tie to create separation in the second frame. New faces made huge impacts for the Mustang. Newsome put up five of her ten kills in the frame on only five attempts. Rogers followed with four fills in the set. Two kills by the Seawolves broke up the run, but SMU got back to business with six straight, starting with the first career kill and blocks from Croft. The run put the Mustangs up 22-12. SMU went on to take a 2-0 advantage in the match with a 25-14 second-set score. SMU hit its highest percentage of the game in the second, swinging at a .517 percent clip.
 
SET THREE | The Seawolves began to figure things out in the third set. Stony Brook never allowed SMU to go on any big runs similar to those in the first two sets and struck late to steal the sweep from the Mustangs. The Seawolves took their first lead on an ace at 11-10. SMU got its advantage back out to two but nothing higher in the set, as the Seawolves kept trading points with the Mustangs. That trend carried into late in the match when Stony Brook found themselves at their first match point (24-23). SMU fought off two set points but was unable to stop Stony Brook from winning the frame, as the Seawolves took the set 27-25.
 
SET FOUR | SMU regrouped in the fourth set to take care of business. After an attack error by SMU, which leveled the fourth at 7-all, the Mustangs recorded seven of the following eight points. Newsome had a pair of kills in the stretch, while Wilburn and Carlson both added aces during the stretch. Stony Brook stopped the bleeding for one point, but SMU turned up the heat with a seven straight, six kills and an ace, to earn their highest lead of that match at 21-9. SMU ended the match on a 4-2 run, capped off by a kill from Anyanwu and then a block from her at Carlson. The Mustangs hit a stout .500 in the frame, led by two of the Mustangs' go-to attackers in Jones and Anyanwu. SMU out-dug Stony Brook in the frame 25-17. Seven of Lamirand's 12 digs came in the final frame.
 
SMU LEADERS:
SMU Kills Leader: Jadyn Livings (13)
SMU Assist Leader: Averi Carlson (56)
SMU Digs Leader: Averi Carlson/Jentry Lamirand (12)
SMU Blocks Leader: Averi Carlson (4)
SMU Ace Leader: Three With (2)
 
ALL TOURNAMENT TEAM
SMU - Jadyn Livings (MVP)
SMU - Favor Anyanwu
SMU - Averi Carlson
UW - Alex Markley
UW - Zoria Heard
UNI - Jadyn Peterson
SBU - Madison Cigna
 
Up Next: SMU will host Texas A&M on Tuesday as part of the Showdown at the Net. The match will air on ESPN2 at 6 pm CT inside Moody Coliseum.